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Science Projects on Making Clouds

Clouds are a part of daily life, and may seem rather ordinary. The processes by which clouds are formed and the predictions that can be made from observing clouds can be quite interesting; they make for good science demonstrations and experiments. Students of any age can find a project involving clouds interesting.

Make a Cloud
- Clouds are formed from droplets of water or ice suspended in the air; they form when water vapor condenses or when fog evaporates. It is easy to create a cloud effect in a jar. Put a jar on a piece of black paper and fill the jar less than halfway with warm water. Light a match and hold it over the jar opening. After a few seconds, drop the match into the jar and quickly place a bag of ice or a cold pack around the jar. A cloud forms; if it is difficult to see, shine a flashlight into the jar. The ice condensed the water vapor that was formed by the warm water and match, creating an instant low-level cloud.
Make Fog
- Fog is essentially a low-lying cloud. The only difference between the configuration of fog and that of a cloud is that fog is found at ground-level. You can replicate the conditions that form fog in a bottle. Pour a little hot water into a bottle. Then put an ice cube on top of the bottle. Shine a light into the container and watch the fog form. Fog is formed when the temperature and the dewpoint of the air are the same. This can happen by cooling the air or by adding moisture to the air; in this experiment, some of both happens.
Phenomena that Make Clouds
- Many factors are involved in the formation of a cloud: temperature, fronts, humidity and other factors. Observe clouds daily, recording the type of cloud and general cloud cover. In addition, note the temperature, date, humidity, barometric pressure and wind speed. You can also observe other phenomena if desired. Observe daily for at least a month. What aspects of the weather seem to be necessary for the formation of clouds? Can you determine what is needed to form specific types of clouds?
Artificial Clouds
- Humans have the ability to create clouds outside of normal cloud formation. If you have the ability to travel or the ability to work with a partner, conduct an experiment like the previous experiment; recording weather phenomena to determine what factors are needed to make a cloud, but compare different areas, urban and rural, to see what differences in humidity or temperature you observe and whether the cloud cover is different between the two. You can observe other areas as well. Is the cloud cover over an airport different from that of the surrounding area?

Nature